Barack Obama sends bust of Winston Churchill on its way back to Britain

Barack Obama sends bust of Winston Churchill on its way back to Britain

A bust of the former prime minister once voted the greatest Briton in history, which was loaned to George W Bush from the Government's art
collection after the September 11 attacks, has now been formally handed back.
The bronze by Sir Jacob Epstein, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds if it were ever sold on the open market, enjoyed pride of place in the Oval
Office during President Bush's tenure.

What I find more interesting about the article, from an 'alternative' point of view are the lines toward the end of the article where it discusses
possible reasons why Obama returned the sculpture. Please see my next post for the quote I speak about.

Churchill has less happy connotations for Mr Obama than those American politicians who celebrate his wartime leadership. It was during
Churchill's second premiership that Britain suppressed Kenya's Mau Mau rebellion. Among Kenyans allegedly tortured by the colonial regime included
one Hussein Onyango Obama, the President's grandfather.

The rejection of the bust has left some British officials nervously reading the runes to see how much influence the UK can wield with the
new regime in Washington.
Now it is likely that Gordon Brown will offer a alternative symbol of Anglo-American fealty when he visits Washington to meet Mr Obama for the
first time since he became President. Diplomats are still working to finalise a date for the visit which is expected in the final week of this month
or early in March.
One suggestion, given Mr Obama's interest in the Lincoln era, is that Mr Brown should offer an artefact relating to the career of John Bright, the
19th Century MP and political reformer who became the most prominent British supporter of Lincoln's Union forces during the American Civil
War.

BOLD emphasis mine.

I found the 'reading of the runes' to be a strange way to describe the situation. en.wikipedia.org...

They are wanting to 'foresee' the future regarding US/British relations by looking at magic symbols carved in stone?

Also, the idea of 'fealty' in regard to modern relations seems a bit odd.

An oath of fealty, from the Latin fidelitas (faithfulness), is a pledge of allegiance of one person to another. Typically the oath is made upon a
religious object such as a Bible or saint's relic, thus binding the oath-taker before God.

I agree. Maybe you should look more carefully at what the article is saying. It says how flustered the British were when he gave it back, that they
are wondering about the future relations with the US because of this sculpture being returned.

You see, they didn't want it back. Maybe because it was there way to listen in to Bush, via secret camera, I don't know. WHat I am saying, is that
the article used certain esoteric terms, and also terms that have fallen out of everyday language.

Thats all. It is just weird... and not funny bone weird. Weird, weird.
DocMoreau

Churchill has less happy connotations for Mr Obama than those American politicians who celebrate his wartime leadership. It was during
Churchill's second premiership that Britain suppressed Kenya's Mau Mau rebellion. Among Kenyans allegedly tortured by the colonial regime included
one Hussein Onyango Obama, the President's grandfather.

Items on loan are sometimes given back when the new administration comes in. This could be Obama just putting in his own decor or there could be more
to it. THIS is why people are concerned about dual citizenships and divided loyalties. If the reason that statue is gone is for some Kenyan thing
... then the old Kenyan thing is of more concern then showing good relations with Americas allies now.

Then again .. it may just be a changing of decor. Dunno'.
But it is interesting.

It's possible Brown would like to establish as good a relationship with Obama as he had with Bush. I don't foresee any problems with that.
Anglo-American relations have been good for some centuries now. As far as the two men having a real rapport, we shall see after Brown's visit.
However, I can see no reason why Obama wouldn't want to keep relations with the British as cordial as possible. They are, after all, one of
America's main allies.

As far as Obama's Kenyan grandfather goes, I doubt he would hold any grudge toward the present Prime Minister, who had nothing to do with what
happened during that colonial period. It's a dark chapter in Britain's past, but what country hasn't got some shameful history?

IMO Obama is proud of his African roots, but he's not going to jeopardize U.S. relations with any allies out of a need for revenge. People keep
trying to read something sinister into his being half African, in a way that they don't with presidents who have had European ancestors. Obama is
100% American.

true, I see what you are saying. But then that plays into the six degrees of separation.

There were fewer people in 1952 as well.

ccording to UN estimates, the national total rose by 28% from 6,416,000 in 1950 to 8,189,000 in 1960; by 37% to 11,253,000 in 1970; by 46% to
16,466,000 in 1980; by 36% to 22,400,000 in 1987; and by 24% to an estimated 27,885,000 in 1995. About 75% of the population lives on only 10% of the
land.

Originally posted by FlyersFan
THIS is why people are concerned about dual citizenships and divided loyalties. If the reason that statue is gone is for some Kenyan thing ... then
the old Kenyan thing is of more concern then showing good relations with Americas allies now.

If the leader of a foreign nation was responsible for detaining and torturing my grandfather, I wouldn't want a bust of him in my house either. I
don't think it has anything to do with US-Brit relations, as much as it has to do with him respecting his grandfather's struggles.

I myself am a big fan of Winston Churchill, after all he was a hero for the allies of WWII. However we must remember that not everything he did was
gold; the western world was into some very shady business back then (and still is).

I think the phrase "reading of the runes" is just a poetic way of saying "feeling out the situation". And the word "fealty" is another poetic
way of saying friendship or solidarity. I think the author is just being colorful.

"some Kenyan thing". From the source:

Indeed a bust of Mr Lincoln now sits in the Oval Office where Epstein's Churchill once ruled the roost.

I don't think Lincoln is Kenyan.

Originally posted by drwizardphd
If the leader of a foreign nation was responsible for detaining and torturing my grandfather, I wouldn't want a bust of him in my house either.

Same here. And when I saw that bust... Well, I wouldn't have than in my house at all. It's fairly hideous.

Churchill ordered the crackdown of the Mau-Mau rebellion in Kenya - Colonial officials detained Obama's grandfather and tortured him. Doubt his
family would welcome the sight of Churchill in the Oval Office.

Obviously, Obama struggled yesterday to praise the special relationship after majority of his African family hate the British. Secondly - most of his
foreign policy affairs result from problems of the British Empire (Palestine and Pakistan.)

Am I reading into trivial matters too much? Maybe, but Obama is directly affected by the consequences of the British Empire.

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